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Shurandi
Overview From the ancient temples of Shimedesh comes Shurandi Sure-ron-dee. Whether its in the ancient temples that line the mountains, the breathtaking shrines in Shaktikot citadel or the humble pilgrimage by the sea or lake side, Shurandi is everywhere in the country. However, this quiet religion actually predates the Rajah's empire and rather was absorbed by the Rajah and soon after declared the official religion of the country. Shurandi is generally a peaceful religion that believes in the balances of everything. Due to this, its deities are varied and typically have more than one aspect. Often one of these aspects is a mirror opposite of the other. Shurandi is a faith of contemplation, where the soul is seen to automatically be at opposites within itself. The key to unlocking one's potential and the path to wisdom is found by finding the balance within. Temples to the faith cater to the needs of people and offer guidance and wisdom to those who seek it. It is not unheard of for people to journey great distances to visit the high temples in the hopes of finding solace, peace, wisdom or even a simple answer to a question. At One With All The Shurandi faith delves much into the idea of providing for the needs of the spirit over the needs of the body. If one were to ask one of the monks about how to attain personal wealth, you would likely receive an answer that has little to nothing to do with the acquisition of money at all. Rather, the answer one would receive would be an allusion that what you are asking for is not the kind of wealth you are really seeking. Monks of the Shurandi faith believe that everything in the world is connected and held together by opposite ends. They are devoted to finding the peace within themselves and helping others find the same. Violence is caused by an imbalance of forces within one's self. That is not to say that it isn't acknowledged that outside forces can trigger such an imbalance, in fact it is rather the opposite. As all are connected, the problems of one will often affect another. A Dualistic View Everything must have a counterbalance. The world cannot have chaos without also having order, unholy cannot be perceived without holy... even peace is seldom achieved without turmoil. To the Shurandi faith, a shadow without light cannot be cast or breath cannot be drawn without air. Similarly, life cannot exist without death. Most of the deities of the faith follow this similar pattern. Where does one find balance a person might ask? The balance is the cause of any two forces finding equilibrium in their struggle. That said, the faith focuses less on say what is good or evil in the world and more about what these two forces bring about due to their very existence. While this focus on the gray area may seem to some, particularly the more fervent in the Church of Heos, to be a loss of sight of what should be pursued in the world, Shurandi has quite the concept of such matters. Rather, they simply believe that the opposite will eventually make things right again as necessity dictates. Sometimes this may even mean taking sides as wisdom dictates. For the most part however, this heavy belief in 'two sides to everything' is about the end result. A Faith of Contemplation Monks of the Shurandi faith spend much of the time in meditation, self-reflection, and study. When they are not spending time in such fashion, they are often out amongst the people offering healing, counsel, advice or any other kind of aid they may need. The monks study many things and are not shy about looking into texts, accounts or volumes from other religions, backgrounds or cultures. To those of Shurandi faith, religion is what one needs it to be in order to fulfill their spiritual needs and so all faiths that do not do harm unto others are accepted. This open-minded viewpoint of the world has lent the Shurdani faith to being one with an outporing of knowledge. This knowledge is, naturally, tempered with the religion's own beliefs but whereas the Church of Heos tends to horde its knowledge, the Shurandi monks are open with sharing what they've learned if asked. This can put them at odds with certain faiths from Cuantonatalli which sometimes practice sacrifice to appease their deities. To the Shurandi, there is a marked difference in a death that was meant to happen or happened for a greater cause and one brought about beyond that person's control death is frowned upon. The Elements of the World Much in keeping with their ideals of balance, the Shurandi faith also focuses heavily on the understanding and mastery of elements or by craft. Many outsiders to the faith or Shimedesh believe that this simply because the faith was founded by and generally still maintained by those of Feor descent. To this day Shimedesh still boasts the largest concentration of people possessing Feor descent and many of the monks are of the races born from when the mighty Jann mingled freely in the world. The elements, however, are more varied than simple primal elements. These are but building blocks amongst others. As with everything in the faith, a lot the focus of study around the elements delves into dualistic natures and how they can create a whole. This in turn stems to their primary deities: * Samanlau (Sa-man-lau) represents Fire and Water * Asamthara (Ah-sam-thara) represents Earth and Air * Ravadhee (Rah-vahd-hee) represents Resplendence and Tenebrous * Vinashti (Vin-ash-ti) represents Destruction and Creation * Dayafarat (Day-af-are-at) represents Benevolence and Cruelty * Bahutkam (Bah-hoot-kaam) represents Plenty and Poverty